One year ago, Rebecca Kutler was promoted to president of the cable news network then known as MSNBC.
Taking the helm at a major news organization is the pinnacle of a journalist’s career. But a lot changed after Kutler landed the job.
In August, MSNBC announced it was dropping its name of nearly 30 years to become MS NOW — as its now-former owner NBCUniversal wanted a clean break from the channel, which was spun off to be part of a new media company called Versant.
The spin-off, which NBCU parent Comcast initiated because its cable networks are considered slow-dying properties that weighed down its stock price, was hardly a vote of confidence in the business. Losing the moniker that had decades of brand equity among its politically progressive viewers was not going to help.
At a recent lunch near her Washington office, Kutler, acknowledged the circumstances were less than ideal. But with more than 20 years in the TV news business where she began as a production assistant at CNN, she understood the audience’s connection to her channel begins with the people on-screen, and not the logo.
“I was pretty confident the audience wouldn’t really blink because when they turn on the their television, they see Rachel Maddow, they see Jen Psaki, they see Joe Scarborough,” Kutler, 46, said. “The fact that two letters change does not change any of those audience habits.”
Still there was work to be done. Kutler no longer had the resources of NBC News at her disposal. Instead of paying $60 million annually for its newsgathering services, she chose to have MS NOW build its own newsrooms in Washington and New York. The operation was tested Tuesday as President Trump’s State of the Union address was the first major event MS NOW covered as a freestanding entity.
Kutler has some big professional challenges, but none as daunting as the one that emerged in October when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Kutler found herself watching the newly rechristened MS NOW on a TV in a hospital room as she received chemotherapy treatments every few weeks.
“If anything it just made me appreciate and love what I do even more,” Kutler said.
As she works through her recovery, Kutler’s spirits have been buoyed by data that prove her point about MS NOW’s audience loyalty. From Nov. 15 — the date of the rebrand — through Feb. 14, MS NOW’s average daily audience has grown to 613,000, up 25% compared to the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen. Weeknight prime time is up 27% to 1.2 million viewers, still a distant second to conservative-leaning Fox News but well ahead of CNN.
There was an audience exodus from MSNBC in the months following President Trump’s election in 2024 as viewers unhappy with the results typically tune out after a presidential campaign. But anxiety over the activities of the second-term Trump White House sent them back into the familiar tent to hear Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ari Melber and others weigh in.
Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow at an MSNBC fan festival in New York City in October 2025.
(MSNBC)
When the name change to MS NOW was announced in October, the network’s internal research showed 31% of viewers found the idea somewhat unappealing or very unappealing, a warning light for what might be ahead. Two months later, that figure dropped to 17%, while the percentage of viewers who found it very appealing or somewhat appealing jumped from 30% to 44%.
A $20-million promotional campaign that focused on the network’s personalities helped. “We made sure the audience knew that it was just a name change, not a strategy change,” Versant Chief Executive Mark Lazarus said.
Programming moves Kutler implemented ahead of the switch helped. Longtime evening host Joy Reid was replaced with an ensemble program “The Weeknight,” with Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, and the audience level rose by 30% in February compared to a year ago.
Kutler moved Psaki, the former press secretary to President Biden, to the 9 p.m. Eastern slot Tuesday through Friday, where viewership is up 41%.
At CNN, Kutler had a strong reputation as a producer and in talent development. She was being groomed for a top job at the network before jumping to MSNBC as an executive vice president in 2022. Agents have been impressed with her swift decision-making.
“They have exceeded expectations in an especially challenged environment,” said Bradley Singer, a partner at William Morris Endeavor whose clients include Sanders-Townsend and “The Weekend” co-host Eugene Daniels. “And I would argue that Rebecca is the right leader for this moment because she’s willing to move quickly to try new things. And the business doesn’t really have time to spare.”
Jen Psaki is the host of MS NOW’s “The Briefing.”
(MS NOW)
Psaki credits Kutler for guiding her transition into TV news. “I wasn’t hired because I spent 20 years as a local news anchor, right?” Psaki said in a recent telephone interview. “I could learn those skills, but Rebecca helped me really start the task of figuring out how to ask the questions that needed to be asked, while also sharing my unique perspective as somebody who’s worked in government and politics.”
MS NOW did have to fill a major hole when political data guru Steve Kornacki chose to stick with NBC after the spin-off. Kutler tapped Ali Velshi, the network’s versatile chief correspondent, to take over the number-crunching during election nights and other big events.
While Kutler can point to ratings increases, she is aware of the long-term doomsday scenario that faces the cable TV industry as more viewers turn to streaming. The people who still have cable like MS NOW a lot — the network has three times as many viewers today as it did 20 years ago when there were far more pay-TV subscribers. But Versant needs to become less dependent on traditional TV as subscriber numbers are sliding every year.
Wall Street will get its first look at Versant’s financial performance when the new company delivers an earnings report next week, expecting to show $6.6 billion in revenue last year. While there have been declines in revenues because of cord-cutting, the company, which includes USA Network, SYFY, CNBC, Golf Channel, E! and Oxygen, says it still delivers double-digit profit margins.
MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler at Vesant’s investor day in New York on Dec. 4.
(MS NOW)
By early fall, MS NOW will launch a direct-to-consumer subscription product aimed at people who don’t have a pay-TV package. CNN launched such a service last year, while Fox News, the perennial ratings leader in cable, is available as part of Fox One, which also offers Fox Corporation’s broadcast network and sports channels.
Kutler said MS NOW‘s direct-to-consumer service will be part of a broader digital offering that can serve as a community for progressives. She describes subscriptions as “memberships.”
“We’re trying to build a product that meets the needs of people who love news, care about democracy and want to come together in a shared space,” she said.
MS NOW already has a strong presence on YouTube. In January, the network had 339 million views of its content, second only to Fox News (466 million) among cable and broadcast TV news outlets.
Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough on the set of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”
(MS NOW)
MS NOW also stepped up its podcast business, scoring 140 million downloads last year. The long-form interview program “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” has been a top download onApple Podcasts, and a new entry, “Clock It” with Sanders-Townsend and Daniels, launched this month.
Kutler also is looking at outside podcast companies to supply programming. Last week, MS NOW announced a deal with Crooked Media to produce a weekly compilation of its podcasts, including “Pod Save America,” which will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. Eastern.
“If there’s content our audience is interested in, we should find a way to bring it to them,” she said.
Overall, the moves at MS NOW show a willingness to invest in growing the business, a situation that did not exist under NBCU, which has been focused on building its Peacock streaming platform. “Liberating us from that was part of the strategy of the entire spin because we now need to do all of those things in order to create a growth company,” Lazarus said.
Kutler even had the green light to enter talks with Anderson Cooper — one of the highest-paid on-air talents in TV news — about joining MS NOW before he decided to re-sign with CNN.
Kutler had her final chemo session last Friday, and doctors say her health prognosis is good. She draws inspiration from her mother, a Philadelphia-area lawyer who raised Kutler as a single parent and successfully battled the disease in her 60s.
“My hardest day would have been my mom’s easiest day,” said Kutler, who is married with three teenaged children. “I was born watching somebody power through stuff. The idea of doing a job that’s busy and demanding and loving your kids and making them a priority is the only thing I ever knew.”
It wasn’t easy to go into Lazarus’ office to break the news about her condition after just six months on the job and a massive task ahead. But Kutler said he didn’t flinch, and the new company has been “1,000%” supportive.
“She’s a tremendous leader and an example of resilience and strength,” Lazarus said.
Seattle’s smothering defense preventing New England from ever getting on track in the game at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., was more appreciated by serious football fans than casual watchers. But the controversy surrounding the event with halftime performer Bad Bunny likely stoked additional interest.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers, higher than the game overall. The performance aired after the second quarter, when the game was still close and hit a peak of 137.8 million viewers.
The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny riled up right-wing commentators who objected to having an artist singing only in Spanish performing at the premier U.S. sporting event of the year. Bad Bunny has also been outspoken over the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics in removing undocumented immigrants. He skipped the mainland U.S. on his last tour, citing fears that his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Right-wing activist group Turning Point USA presented an alternative halftime show on YouTube, which topped 6 million viewers, a surprisingly high number considering details of the program were not revealed until days before game day. A concert featuring Kid Rock and several lesser-known country artists did not get a strong critical reception on social media.
But the audience size showed that a hot musical act could attract a significant chunk of the audience already gathered to watch the game.
“More bands should go head to head with the halftime show and not in a political way,” said one rival network executive not authorized to comment publicly. “It would be a good stunt for HBO Max or some other company that’s not an NFL rights holder.”
Nielsen’s improvement to its measurement of viewing through internet connections and set-top boxes — which boosted NFL TV ratings throughout the season, also likely helped the Super Bowl LX number. The additional data was incorporated into TV ratings starting in September.
Another 3.3 million watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo. NBC did not release data for viewing on its Peacock, saying only that it was the biggest day ever for the streaming platform.
NBC sold out the commercial time for the game at an average price of $8 million for a 30-second spot, with some going for $10 million. USA Today’s annual “Ad Meter” panel chose Budweiser’s “American Icons” as its favorite commercial on the telecast.
The adage that records are made to be broken definitely applies to the TV ratings for the Super Bowl.
For three straight years, the game deciding the champion for the NFL season has set new viewing records, including last year’s Philadelphia Eagles crushing victory over the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 that scored an average audience of 127.7 million viewers on Fox.
Both the 2024 and 2025 games had the benefit of the pop culture sizzle generated by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s romance with pop superstar Taylor Swift, bringing in more casual fans.
This season, the Chiefs won’t be in the game for the first time in three years as NBC will have the Seattle Seahawks facing off Sunday against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, not the match-up experts predicted for this year.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t set another ratings record.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift celebrate the Chiefs’ victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship on Jan. 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
“I believe it can,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, noting the lift the NFL ratings have seen this season as viewing information from set-top devices and internet connected televisions in 45 million households are now included in Nielsen’s audience measurement.
“It’s definitely showing up and bumping up ratings throughout the year for the NFL,” Berke said.
A recent report from the Video Advertising Bureau found that the new measurement from Nielsen has boosted ratings for prime time NFL games in the mid-to-high single digit percentages.
Other changes to Nielsen’s measurement in recent years have given the Super Bowl a boost. While surpassing 100 million was once a reasonable goal, the numbers started climbing above that threshold since out-of-home viewing was added in 2021.
History is on the side of a robust audience number this year. The last time the Patriots faced the Seahawks in 2015, the NBC telecast set a viewership record at the time of 114.4 million. Fans watching Sunday can expect to see clips of Malcolm Butler’s interception at the goal line that helped give Tom Brady’s Patriots the win that year.
But NBC doesn’t need a record audience number for the Super Bowl to be a financial success. A robust TV advertising marketplace helped the network sell out the game at a record average of $8 million per 30-second spot, with some going for $10 million.
NBC has also sold spots that will air only on its Peacock streaming platform. The network pulled in the range of $3 million a spot, significantly above the $2 million Fox took in for ads last year when the game was streamed on its Tubi service.
This year NBC was able to use Super Bowl LX to drive ad sales for its coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan that begin Friday and run through Feb. 22, (which is also sold out). The network also has the NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Feb. 14, which is why Mike Cavanaugh, co-chief executive of NBCU parent Comcast, recently described February as “the most consequential month in live sports history.”
In 2022, NBC’s combination of both the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, accounted for $1.5 billion in revenue according to Comcast’s earnings report, a number the company will likely surpass this year. The company isn’t commenting on revenue but has said it expects to set a record for Super Bowl ad revenue.
Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising sales and partnerships for NBCUniversal, said 70% of the companies in the Super Bowl are also running commercials in the Olympics.
In previous decades, a Super Bowl commercial was an event in itself with the reveal happening on the telecast. But Marshall noted that, as part of a larger marketing effort, advertising campaigns are now introduced with teasers ahead of the telecast and many get a full preview online.
This year, NBCU was able to offer the Olympics to help marketers connect with more consumers.
“We told advertisers ‘you’re going to spend eight figures (on producing a commercial) — extend the reach of that,” Marshall said.
Technology companies make up the largest share of advertisers. Several AI companies, including Anthropic and Genspark, will be first-time Super Bowl ad buyers. Viewers will also see returning entries from Google, Meta, Wix and Amazon, which will air a spot for its Alexa device.
While there are the usual array of snack food and soft drink companies that will appearin the commercial breaks, viewers will also see a spurt in pharmaceutical ads. Marshall said the category has increased its presence on NFL games. The Super Bowl spots will focus on a message of “wellness,” rather than straight ahead product spots with disclaimers listing unpleasant drug side effects.
Marshall said NBCU does not expect the announced alternative halftime show presented by Turning Point USA to have an impact on the ratings. A concert featuring Kid Rock and lesser known country artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett, will stream on YouTube, X, Rumble and several right-wing TV channels.
The concert promoted by the right-wing group founded by the late Charlie Kirk and now run by his widow Erika is in response to conservatives outraged over the NFL’s selection of Grammy-winning music superstar Bad Bunny, who sings primarily in Spanish, as the halftime act. (President Trump called the decision “terrible” and is skipping the game.)
But the league has not wavered for a moment amid the blowback, as it seeks to expand its global reach by having the most streamed artist in the world on the stage of its marquee event.
The only effective counter-programming gimmick against the Super Bowl halftime show came in 1992. Fox, still an upstart network, ran a live edition of its sketch comedy show “In Living Color” against the halftime of the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXVI, which featured ice skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano.
The pronounced dip in viewership prompted the NFL to sign Michael Jackson as the halftime act in 1993. The game saw a significant ratings boost and the league has booked contemporary music acts for the game ever since.
The Chase fans took to social media this week to air their complaints about one particular issue.
12:30, 05 Feb 2026Updated 12:34, 05 Feb 2026
The Chase: Mark Labbett tells contestant ‘it’s rubbish’
Viewers of The Chase reckon the questions become tougher when contestants go for the high offer, taking to X to air their suspicions during Wednesday’s episode (February 4) of the ITV quiz show. This comes after the popular show announced a spin-off is in the works.
A player named Harri had been urging fellow contestants to be bold with their choices – something which caught the attention of chaser Mark “The Beast” Labbett.
Despite banking just £3,000 in his cash builder, Harri was presented with a low offer of minus £1,000 and a high offer of £68,000, with Mark telling him: “You’ve no excuse not to take this.”
Though he could have stuck with his £3,000, Harri went big – and viewers immediately flocked to X as they noticed the questions appeared significantly harder than if he’d played it safe.
“What a pathetic question, the questions get harder when you go high I don’t care what anyone says,” one viewer claimed.
“Big difference in questions when you go high,” another concurred. A third shared a meme from The Office, writing: “Go and get the difficult set of questions!”
Despite his bravado, Harri couldn’t outsmart The Beast and was forced to make the dreaded walk of shame off set, departing empty-handed, reports the Express.
That left just two players, Andy and Caren, to tackle the final chase with £7,000 in the prize pot after both had chosen the cautious route in their cash builders.
Whilst they fell short of defeating The Beast, it was a nail-biting finish: Mark was forced to leap in with his answers before presenter Bradley Walsh could complete the questions, having squandered precious time through incorrect responses.
After securing his triumph, he felt driven to address viewers directly. “Can I address something? There’s a thing on social media, people claim that it’s unfair. The Chasers can jump in and interrupt you [Bradley], and the contestants can’t. That is absolutely not true,” he declared.
“The contestants can jump in whenever they like, if they’re brave enough or confident enough. In other words, we jumped in early because I had to be there.
“Thank goodness it was right. Otherwise, I’d have lost. Very well played, guys,” he praised the remaining duo.
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The Chase broadcasts on weeknight evenings at 5pm on ITV.
